English 1A Process Essay 3-5 pages (900-1500 words) Purpose: To respond to the material from Module 2, to examine the writing process and how you apply it in your life and work, to practice the steps in the writing process, to create a polished academic essay in MLA format. Directions: 2. Review your response to Journal #2 to generate ideas. 3. Organize your ideas. Your essay should include a thesis (main idea) that describes your general approach to writing. The rest of the essay will include evidence (details, examples and description) that will help develop and support that main idea. There are several ways to organize your ideas. You might discuss your writing history from then to now. You could discuss a few major difficulties that you've faced with writing, and how you're working to overcome them. You might discuss your goals for your writing, or what you love best about it. You may have a whole other idea about how to organize. The important thing is that you have a clear thesis, and that all your evidence works to support that thesis. 4. Write a draft. Include one quote from the Lamott essay as you discuss your own writing process. It could be any quote that you consider relevant for any reason, and you can include it anywhere in your essay. You don't necessarily need to agree with Lamott's ideas, either. You might include the quote as an example of what you don't or won't do in your own writing process. 5. Revise your draft. Look for areas where you could include more detailed evidence. Look for areas where you get off track a bit, and either delete those areas, or find a way to link them to your main idea. Ferret out grammar errors, particularly sentence level errors like fragments, run ons and comma splices. (See your Hacker book for more information about these common types of errors.) Make sure your essay sports proper MLA format - see the Hacker book, or the Module 1 reading for review. You might want to look at the checklist in the Hacker book (page 20) as you revise. 6. Save your work as a .doc or .rtf document and submit. 7. Relax in the sun with your favorite beverage. Congratulations on the completion of your first essay! |